Horsham vs Phoenix Sports: MATCH PREVIEW

With all the cup action The Hornets have been involved with, it’s hard to remember that the bread and butter of the league needs to be fitted in, thus Phoenix Sports head to Culver Road for our rearranged fixture as we take on the Kent side hoping to gain an additional three points in our Bostik League campaign.

Defeat away at high flying Hastings United last week, plus involvement in the FA Trophy on Saturday, means that The Hornets have slipped down to sixteenth in the division and Dom Di Paola’s side will need to be at their best if they are to climb the table against a team currently placed third. Sports have taken fifteen points from seven league fixtures, and have largely been fired up the table thanks to the scintillating form of striker Jeff Duah-Kessie who has already scored fourteen times in all competitions.

Duah-Kessie himself managed to bag five of the last ten goals Sports scored in their last two matches, including a hat-trick last time out when Sports recovered from 2-0 down away at Guernsey to defeat The Green Lions 3-5.

Despite the impressive performances, things have not quite been plain sailing for our guests tomorrow, as they were thrown out of the FA Cup following the discovery of an ineligible played being fielded in their 3-0 success against our landlords Lancing, who were subsequently reinstated last week.

Last season’s corresponding game ended with The Hornets securing all three points thanks to a late Tom Tolfrey goal clinching a 2-1 win, after Kweku Ansah had cancelled out George Landais’ early opener in back in February. This will be just the third time the two sides have faced each other competitively with Sports winning the reverse fixture 1-0 in December 2017.

Our match on Tuesday evening has kindly been sponsored by Tanbury Garage, while the club also thanks The ‘Blue Stragglers’ who have agreed to sponsor the match ball. As ever, the club thanks them all for their tremendous support. We get underway at Culver Road with a 7.30pm kick off.